Vitaly Petrov said that Renault had experienced a "difficult day" of practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Renault had been concerned that it would struggle on the Yas Marina Circuit due to the number of low-speed corners requiring rear traction; an inherent weakness of the R31. Petrov confirmed that was the main reason for his lack of performance, and said that work would need to be done overnight because the team is "well off the pace".

"It was a difficult day for us today; it was difficult in terms of rear traction especially, and we are well off the pace," Petrov said. "Overnight, we must look at how we can improve and get up to scratch. Something that was particularly evident was the drop in temperature between first and second practice. As a driver, every time you emerge from the garage for another run it is very interesting because the sun goes down and then by the final run it is dark. We really want to get better for tomorrow, take it up a gear and try to compete at a more consistent level than we did today."

Bruno Senna agreed that the team was right to be worried about the circuit, and said he was wary of a tough qualifying session on Saturday.

"Even though I only had one session today, I still managed to get a lot of laps in," Senna said. "I feel our fears may be confirmed that we don't have great pace at the moment; we need to work hard to get better for tomorrow and to see where we can improve. It's going to be a very difficult qualifying for us but we need to make the most of it and be there if the opportunity comes to us."